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Post by Ryland Yates on May 28, 2010 14:45:58 GMT -4
[Weirdest title you've heard yet? Probably not. Reminds me of the Gummy Bear song.]
Ryland looked up at the sign that read "Yummy Tummies Restaurant." He supposed it was implying that their food was good, but it made him hesitant to eat there. His stomach interrupted his thoughts by growling at him. Well he obviously had no room to argue at this point. He hadn't eaten since mid-yesterday. Now it was lunch time. His lack of need to eat came from his animal shift. Eagles didn't have to eat every single day. This allowed him to skip a few meals, but when he did, he always came out feeling like he was starving.
Sighing he went into the restaurant and looked around. It was actually kind of busy, so it must have been a decent restaurant after all. The bar was the emptiest, and since he was there alone, he figured he shouldn't take up a whole table or booth. He sat on the stool and waited for a waiter/waitress to come over. After a few minutes, a very cheerful waitress saw him and walked over.
"Well hello! I don't think I've seen you around here before. Take your time reading over the menu. What would you like to drink?"
Ry was a little taken aback by how happy she was, but finally smiled. "Tea and a glass of water."
Her facial expression hardly changed when he ordered both drinks. Picking up the menu, he opened it up and his eyes slowly traveled up and down the list of food items. The eagle in him was searching for something fish-related, so he had to keep re-reading to keep from missing anything. Fish was good, yes, but it wasn't the only thing he could keep eating. He needed something else sometimes; for the sake of his human self. He could tell the waitress was back with his drinks when he heard them being placed on the counter; he didn't look up, though. Her cheerful face was kind of scary when he thought about it.
He scanned the menu again and finally settled on something simple like chicken tenders and fries. When the scary waitress returned, he ordered. She didn't write anything down, but watched him and continued smiling. It was very awkward. Ry quickly handed her the menu.
"Just take your time." He didn't want her to come back any time soon.
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 28, 2010 15:10:20 GMT -4
[[OOC: XD yeah, awesome~]]
Virginia shielded her eyes from the sign and peered down at the sheet of paper in her hand. It was folded accordion style, somewhat like a kind of phamplet you might get if you visited some historical site, except it was a map. The girl sighed and began walking in the direction of what appeared to be a restaurant, truth be told, she would rather be navigating her way around some historical site. She stopped walking and looked around, where was she again? Where was she going? Her eyes fell back on the map. She groaned and dropped to sit cross-legged, hunching over the map. Using her index finger she made a prediction as to where she was and traced it to the restaurant. Looking up again then back down, and up again she got an idea of direction. With her bearings straight again, she changed direction slightly and started to walk again.
This was the first time in the week that she had been off-campus. She was new to the Academy very new. She had only arrived a mere nine days ago. The Administration was nice, they helped her get sorted in to classes, but were still working on getting a dorm a dorm. the only thing she didn't like was how they kept encouraging her to "use her inner animal." It was clear they wanted to see it. Virginia snorted, What inner animal? You filthy liar! She had just told them she was a cat and she got really sick when she changed and that it hurt alot. Eventually they left her alone about it and she was free to wander about the campus. they had finally shoved a map and some cash in her hands today and told her to 'go have fun'. She could tell by their terse and tight faces that she had overstayed her welcome and had annoyed them, so she left without an argument.
She looked up again, and saw heat rising from the grass, and the hazy figure of a building up ahead. She came to a stop and plucked at the tight fabric of her denim jeans. Hawaii sure was hot. A lot hotter than Pennsylvania, that much was for sure. She wondered silently if it would ever snow. Shrugging, she began to walk again, throwing the hood of her thin gray jacket over her brown hair. Why hadn't she put on sunscreen before she went out? Before she knew it, she stepped onto a path and was standing in front of a small restaurant building. She looked at the map, then up at the sign. "Yummy Tummies." it made her smile and giggle a bit. Such a cute name.
Placing a hand on the door she stepped inside, she was almost blown back with the force of air-conditioning. Her hood certainly was. she looked about and her heart sunk. My.. it was busy in here. Glancing around, she made her way to the bar an hopped up on the first barstool she came to. Exhaling loudly she looked about, nearly falling off her chair when she noticed the boy sitting next to her. She started clutched the underside of the chair. Why hadn't she noticed him when she sat down? She couldn't just leave! That would be very rude!
She lowered her head and prayed he wouldn't notice.
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 28, 2010 16:37:34 GMT -4
Ryland was beginning to think that he shouldn't have told her to take her time. The sooner he ate and got out of there, the quicker he got away from that awfully cheerful woman, that loved to stare at him. Not only that, but he had already given his menu back and now he had nothing to hide behind. Luckily it appeared she was giving everyone else the same treatment that he got, so at least she wasn't some weirdo adult with a crush on him or something.
"This is all of your fault."
In reality it appeared as if he was talking to nothing, or to the air, but he was actually talking to his "inner animal." The eagle. If it hadn't wanted to eat, especially right now, they wouldn't be sitting there. He wouldn't be feeling uneasy because of that waitress. It didn't faze him one bit that he had to eat alone, though. He was so lost in his thoughts, that he was completely oblivious to the girl that showed up beside him. Ry caught the eye of the waitress, who looked as if she wanted to strike up a conversation. Oh no. He tried to keep the panicked look off his face and looked around for something to distract himself. This time he noticed the girl and turned the stool around so that he was facing her.
"Hi." Ryland smiled. "I'm Ryland."
Yes! A way to distract himself. Surely she wouldn't be rude and interrupt now that he had someone to talk to. When he glanced over again to see if she was looking, he realized she was tending to another customer. He sighed in relief. Oh great. But now he had to deal with the girl, who probably thought he was crazy or something.
He leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "Sorry about that. I'm really not crazy..or weird. It's just there is this weird waitress here that freaks me out and I really don't want her to come over and talk to me."
He hoped that made some sort of sense to her. Normally he tried to play it calm, but there was just something about that woman that was strange. It kind of made him curious to find out, but that involved confronting her and having a conversation with her. That was something he didn't want. Ry smiled again and held out his hand for her to shake. Hopefully.
"It's nice to meet you."
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 28, 2010 17:29:42 GMT -4
So far so good. He was bound to notice her at some time. She tried to inch away but then suddenly head something. "This is all your fault." the boy muttered. Virginia froze and glanced at him. Whose fault was it? Her fault? Why? Just because she had sat down?
Her shoulders slumped forward a bit more. "Ouch.." she muttered faintly. Why were people so rude? She really hoped that all of these shifter people weren't complete jerks. She was about to hop off the stool and just leave when suddenly the boy was facing her.
"Hi, I'm Ryalnd." He said
Virginia nearly fell of her stool backwards she was so surprised. What kind of a place was this anyway?! One second people were blaming you for their problems, then the next they were introducing themselves. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't hardly form a syllable for all of the astonishment. Luckily she didn't have to, the boy glanced over his shoulder to scan the room, then turned back to her. She was staring to relax when he leaned in a bit, she went rigid, swallowing hard. Was it possible that he knew? Maybe he could smell how different she was. These were all irrational fears but it terrified the poor girl. This world wasn't made for her. She was a human, just as simple as that, if this guy was to transform, he could probably eat her alive! She didn't breathe, she had never seen a shifter before, besides her sister. But she never made it to 13th birthday, Virginia felt the guilt leek though her body. It was a familiar feeling to her, and in its own way a comforting one. She relaxed a bit. Maybe he should just eat her and get it over with.
Then the most peculiar thing happened, he spoke. Soft and gentle, but tinged with the slightest bit of fear.
"Sorry about that. I'm really not crazy..or weird,"
A perplexed look washed over Virgina's features as she listened to him speak. So he was just scared of that girl? The waitress? Well, she did look a bit too happy, but right now her posture suggested she was a bit deflated. As she looked back to him the inevitable happened. His hand was extended. His smile looked sincere enough and he actually looked like a decent fellow. Maybe he could help her get into school life? Perhaps he would even make a good friend. She'd have to at least try this. It didn't seem like he had detected her difference so she was going to go for it.
But sitting there, looking at that hand, she just couldn't do it. She looked away and hugged herself, rubbing her arms which had begun tingling in her dismay. "I-i'm sorry, Ryland," easy enough name to remember, it was quite exemplary, "I can't shake hands with people.. I just can't do it. I'm really sorry" She throat felt dry so she swallowed and looked at him forcing a thin smile, "My name is Virginia, i'm really new here."
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 28, 2010 18:07:11 GMT -4
Ryland could tell there was something strange about this girl. Or something different in the least. But he didn't know how he even knew. Maybe it was the way she kept jumping when he moved or talked. Her expressions constantly changed with every word or movement he made. Was she scared? That's what it had seemed liked to him. Noella, in some ways, had been like this girl when he met her. But Noella was just shy and it wasn't quite the same. This girl was jumpy. Luckily, since that was how she was being, he wasn't like most of the other animals...sniffing everyone they came in contact with. Not that he could blame them. But a bird didn't really need to do that.
His smiled disappeared slightly when she didn't shake his hand and he lowered it. Instead she seemed to pull further away from him. Maybe he did appear weird to her. Maybe she heard him blaming his inner animal. But any shifter would understand that. They all talked to their inner animal in one form or another. He didn't look up when the food was placed on the counter, but continued watching her. It was only natural for him to study people when he met them, but he didn't want her to think he was even more weird.
It was her turn to speak now. The first thing she did was apologize. Her voice seemed "small" in a sense as she spoke. He wondered if she didn't shake hands with people in general or just not him, since she possibly thought he was weird. He didn't want to ask. Ry smiled when she did introduce herself, though. Maybe that was it. She was nervous about being there or something.
"Virginia? It's a nice name."
Ryland was tempted to ask her what she shifted into. But he hardly ever got around to asking anybody that question when he met them. He rotated his stool back towards the bar as he turned to his food.On the left side of his plate was the tea. On the right side was the water. He hoped the ice in the water wouldn't melt before he got to it.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, pushing the plate towards her a little.
He doubted she would say yes, or at least she probably wouldn't want any from his plate. But he felt it was rude not to ask. Besides, if she wasn't in there for food, then the only other thing was drink, right? The food was actually better than he had expected, but the name did suggest it was good. Actually, could it get any plainer than "yummy?"
"So you mentioned you were new. Do you need help with your classes or anything?"
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 28, 2010 21:30:09 GMT -4
Virginia took a deep breath, she just needed to calm down. Just calm down, she set up a chant in her head, just chill out. Everything's fine. Look at him, he looks nice doesn't he. C'mon out, he won't bite. It was the oddest sensation, it almost felt like someone was whispering in her ear. , fintly and almost not there at all Of course that was absurd, there wasn't a soul in the world who could understand the position she was in. Still it had a mysterious, sooting effect, she dropped her shoulders.
The food was placed on the counter and she cut her eyes at it, suddenly
"Virginia? That's a nice name."
Virginia's head tilted and she looked at him in disbelief. "R-really?" She couldn't recall anyone ever referring to her name as 'nice'. It kind of made her smile. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person. Her eyes kept cutting to the food, the food looked more than decent. and it smelled nice as well. She felt herself salivating and swallowed hastily, how embarrassing. He must have noticed because he pushed the plate towards her and offered her some. She opened her mouth to try and stop him, "Ahh.."
But it smelled so good, and she hadn't gotten breakfast. She swallowed again. It was a sign of friendship to offer someone food. Virginia remembered one time when a new family moved into their neighborhood. It was when Julianne was still alive. The two of them had made brownies together, then put them in a big plastic tub, and carried them down the street. It was an older couple, their kids had moved out long ago, so they were starting fresh. They invited them in and cooed over how cute the little girls were.
The memory didn't make Virginia sad, in fact, it made her feel quite warm. A slow smile spread across her face and she reached for a french fry, "Thanks." It was at that moment that the girl decided how well her sister might have liked it here. For and entire four years Virginia had sat moping about her death, not realizing that she could now live out her sister's legacy. Deep down she knew shoe could never actually be her sister. She took another fry, nibbling it a bit.
"Yeah, I shipped in a couple days ago." The girl replied, "I'm only in 9th grade." She kept avoiding Ryand's eyes, "I'm really sorry, I've never seen a shifter before." She stopped feeling panic spread through her body, chills jumped from her spine to heart. Did she just blow it all? Her outward appearance remained serene, "Well, I mean, another shifter besides myself and my mom... Sorry I misspoke."
It was a convincing half-truth. But He common sense told her that a simple speaking mistake wouldn't automatically give her away. Still, she'd have to watch that.
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 28, 2010 22:04:16 GMT -4
Ryland took one of the chicken tenders and began eating it, watching the cheerful waitress as she walked passed him. She seemed to be leaving him alone now that he had someone else to talk to. He didn't want to seem mean; there was nothing wrong with being happy. But when she stared at him the way she did, it was just weird. He started to reach for the tea, but stopped. She was probably thirsty too. Smiling, he slid it over to her and then took the glass of water, drinking some of it.
"You haven't seen another shifter since you've been here?" he asked.
Was that possible? Surely she had seen some shifters when she first arrived, right? Or when she was walking around. On her way here? Somewhere. He was thinking he was missing something. Something that probably connected to her jumpiness. But he didn't want to sit there and question her, when she seemed a bit shy in the first place. That wasn't any way to get her to stay and talk. Ry smiled, though. She was in his grade. He didn't know many people in his own grade. He could add that to the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders he didn't know. Most of them were in tenth or eleventh grade. At least the people he had befriended. But that didn't mean he didn't know people who had just arrived.
"I'm in ninth grade too. That's pretty cool. Maybe we have some classes together or something."
He didn't usually ask the people he met about their schedules, but by the time he met them, he already knew whether he had seen them in there or not. He continued eating, his stomach somewhat quarreling with him about it. After all, he was in there because of it, wasn't he? But he never would have met this girl if he hadn't gone in. Who knows where he would have ended up if he had just kept walking. Probably the school cafeteria.
"If you don't mind me asking, what do you shift into?"
He was hoping it wouldn't offend her for him to ask. But if it did, she would say so. Right? Hopefully. It was just nice to know sometimes. It would probably be best for him to add that in, just in case. Assuming usually landed him in the wrong places/situations.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
[Sorry it's short this time. ):]
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 28, 2010 22:54:50 GMT -4
Virginia wanted potato chips, sure the french frys were similar, but they only came in second. They we neither crunchy nor salty enough. She drew out the money she had with her and began rubbing it between her forefinger and thumb. She was tempted to ask Ryland is she could get help in purchasing some, but he seemed busy eating. She just sat there awkwardly, every so often looking at the very happy waitress.
She was a bit surprised when he spoke next, asking her about shapeshifters on the island. She nodded, "Well I guess I have. But I mean is everyone an animal? I mean aren't there any--," she nearly said 'regular people', that probably would've offended him terribly "Aren't there any humans?"
She accepted the tea with a small and polite thank you. Cupping the glass it in two hands she took a drink. It was iced tea, typically she would have preferred hot tea, but definitely not on a day like today. She felt considerably more relaxed when he spoke again, saying that it would be cool to have classes together. She liked how he wasn't turning this into a game of 2o questions, just simply saying nice things. When she had first arrived, the administration had asked Virginia a lot of questions to interview her for admission. She had a hard time talking. The guidance counselor wouldn't stop staring at her, as if he expected her to answer the questions post-haste. She just froze up and stuttered out what her parents had told her to say. She hated this whole business of lying, But, what could she do? It was 'for her sister'. She had been hearing that excuse a lot lately. Even from herself just now, but she knew that was sincere, she just wanted to let her sister's love live though her. But what could possibly be good about using her to get into a school that she wasn't even supposed to know about. It was all very vexing.
"If you don't mind me asking, what do you shift into?"
Virginia was torn from her train of thought, her eyes widened a bit, "Huh?"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
She set her drink down and put her hands in her lap. there it was, she had to answer that question. "N-no, it's okay. I'm a cat." She smiled at Ryland, though she was tempted to say something stupid like 'banana slug' perhaps she would say that to other people she met. A banana slug; spineless. It was ironically funny.
She took another sip of tea, "What about you, Ryland?"
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 28, 2010 23:20:47 GMT -4
Ryland continued eating, mostly for the benefit of his stomach. Maybe it would stop making so much noise if he did. His mind had finally been taken off of the waitress. He didn't really care about her anymore..neither her cheery attitude or her awful stares. He noticed the money she had pulled out and was messing with. Maybe she was planning on buying something?
"Do you want something else?" he asked, looking at the money.
Maybe she had already had something in mind when she entered, before he started talking to her anyways. He probably had distracted her from her previous intentions. Not that he had done it on purpose or anything like that, though. If that was the case, maybe there was something he could do to help. Like wave down the waitress who was still watching him.
"The closest humans around are on the other island. We can visit, but we can never ever tell them about our animal forms. I don't know what would happen if they found out, and I really don't want to know."
It was forbidden by everyone, no matter the age. And if someone were to tell the humans about it, it wouldn't be him. He didn't need his life ruined because he had to run his mouth off to someone who couldn't shift. That got him to thinking about what would happen if a human came over to this island and nobody realized. They wouldn't even know they were "normal."
"N-no, it's okay. I'm a cat."
He returned her smile when she answered. A cat, huh? He tried to pair their personalities together, but it was pretty difficult. So far he didn't think she had shown him her real personality. She was still kind of jumpy and if he didn't know what she was really like, it was going to be difficult to tell. He looked at his plate, which mostly had fries on it now. They were getting a little cold too. A guy on the other side of the bar had something similar, but had piled his fries with ketchup. He wasn't a ketchup fan, though. Unless it was on a hotdog. Ry picked one up and ate it as she questioned him about what he shifted into.
"A bald eagle."
He picked up his glass of water and drank some more of it. It was practically gone by now. Usually he drank two or three glasses full with every meal. It was almost sad, really. Today he would settle with maybe two, even though it was extremely hot outside. But he was really beginning to feel better after eating. That's what he got for waiting so long to eat something.
[So...what happens if someone finds out you can't shift? Lol.]
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 29, 2010 14:20:38 GMT -4
Virginia set the money down on the table and stared at it, "No.. it's alright. You were kind enough to share with me anyway.." But still she couldn't help but eye the waitress, hoping that she might come over and ask her what she wanted. She turned to Ryland, "Uhm, is there some kind of convenience store on this island?"
She looked down at the half-finished plate of french-frys. Ryland had already eaten everything of substance, not that it mattered to her. She picked up a french fry and held it up to her eyes. Shaking it ever so slightly.. gross, it was really flimsy. Coated with grease and floppy. On top of all that it would be cold too. She deliberated on wether or not to put it down, risking a glance at the boy she decided not to. It would have been really bad manners to just pick something off of someone's plate and then set it back down. She remembered one time when she was at a summer camp with her sister, they were ages 9 and 11 at the time. They were sitting at a table of other 11-year-olds, but Virginia felt right at home. One of the counselors was nearby, right across the table, and was talking with everyone just as he would with friends. Her sister nudged her and said, "I dare you to steal that sushi, right there." She had made a face and said "Ew! Gross! They didn't even cook it!"
All the same she reached across and snatched it. Te counselor noticed and smiled, "Uh-oh, you touched my food! Now you have to eat it!"
THe girl of course, refused, but he said he would make it taste better and put a large dollop of green stuff on top. She ate it anyway. Seconds later she pounding the table and begging for water. It had been wasabi, everyone had a good laugh. Even her and her sister afterwards. Since then she had never take anything that wasn't hers without intending to eat it, so why start now? She nodded and ate the flimsy fry, making an outwardly disgusted face as she did so.
"An eagle?" She said after forcing herself to swallow the cold mush, "How.. patriotic."
It was intended as a compliment. Virginia had a high sense of patriotism herself. After all, she was named after Virgina, right? Virginia was the first colony to propose independence in 1776. Well, besides Massachusetts, but Adams should have tried a gentler approach.
Then something caught her attention about what he had said; was he scared of people? That didn't make sense. Even if someone did find out he could just rip them to pieces or threaten them! Well at least that's what her parents said they would do to her if she was ever found out. She couched politely and finished off her tea.
"Thanks."
[[Idk, let's just hope it doesn't.. ^^;]]
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 29, 2010 15:00:08 GMT -4
Ryland figured by now that she probably wouldn't tell him the whole truth, even when he asked. He had seen her looking at the waitress. Not only that, but he could tell when she looked at the fries on his plate, that she didn't really want one. They were getting cold anyways and even he didn't like cold fries. She probably didn't either, and for all he knew, she might not even be a fan of french fries. She could have just taken some to be nice since he offered them to her.
"Patriotic? Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Nobody had ever referred to his shift as being patriotic before, but it was cool. Then again, most people, even some of his friends, didn't know what kind of animal he shifted into. Probably because they didn't ask, and he usually didn't tell if they didn't ask. Most of the time he didn't ask either. He didn't know why, though. It wasn't as if he wasn't interested or anything. But he wasn't all that curious either.
He noticed her concentrated look, like she was thinking about something. Was it about the food? Something he said? Ry pushed his plate away, no longer hungry. And again, he wasn't going to eat cold fries either. His hand grasped the cup of water that was now empty. Did I already drink it all? He mentally shrugged and returned it to the counter.
"I insist. It won't hurt my feelings if you want something else. I'm sure you must be hungry if you came in here in the first place. One or two fries won't feel you up."
He waved the waitress over. Ry needed a refill for his cup of water anyways and let her know when she came over. It was no that he realized he had never answered her question about the convenience store. He wasn't sure why or how he forgot to answer it, but he did. He thought for a moment if he had seen one or not, but couldn't really remember. Then again, there were still places on the island that he hadn't been either.
"Sorry about not answering your question earlier. I don't remember seeing one, but I'm sure there is one somewhere."
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 29, 2010 19:32:41 GMT -4
Virginia's eyes widened, did he just say 'feel you up'? She was positive that was just a simple mistake that he hadn't caught in saying it. He had probably meant to say 'fill' Still, what a terrifying thought, oil-burned potato slices touching a person, she had an awful feeling she'd start having the image appear in nightmares. She didn't call attention to it though, normally someone might just laugh at him about it, but Virginia didn't see the appeal in it.
She figured that it wouldn't be rude at all to accept his help. Of course she could take care of herself, but what was the point? If he was going to be so kind as to share food and offer assistance to a girl who he didn't even know and probably thought very arrogant or ignorant by now, she figured she would do well to take advantage such kindness. She smiled genuinely and nodded, "Yes I would like that quite alot."
He was quick to flag down the waitress, as she neared Virginia understood why he had felt unnerved. She was by no means ugly, but she just had a look about her that was alarming. The wideness of her smile, the perfect whiteness and conformity of her somewhat too-large teeth made her shudder. One of the things that bothered her the most about her expression were her eyes. Unblinking they were set on Ryland, they were almost piercing. God.. why wouldn't she blink?!
"And what would you like, dearie?" she asked, turning slightly towards to girl.
Virginia was jostled out of her thoughts, "Oh.. um.." She tried to remember what it was she wanted though that penetrating look. "Ah.. can it maybe have some potato chips? Not frys but chips? Oh and um, maybe some err. " She scratched her head and averted her gaze, "Maybe you guys have some grilled fish?" She forced herself to look at the waitress and gave her a thin smile, "Yes if you could, maybe some fish?" She didn't know if there actually any fish at the restaurant, but they were on an island right? She remembered back to an economics course, weren't the main exports of islands fruit and fish? It would've been silly for the restaurant to be fish-less.
She let out a breath when the woman left. " Is she the one you were hiding from? I see why. It's like she wanted to eat me or something..." Ryland really was a normal kid, maybe just as scared as she was. Maybe she should give him a favor. Turning towards him she swallowed her fear and held out a hand, "Sorry, I usually don't shake hands with people, but here."
She steeled herself.
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 29, 2010 20:34:10 GMT -4
Ryland had wished that was not the waitress he had to flag down, but she seemed to be the only one that wasn't busy. Plus she was staring right at them, so if he tried to wave anybody down, she'd probably come over. He tried to keep his eyes away from hers; it was just too awkward. It was kind of mean to say, but he was quite glad when she stopped staring at him and turned to Virginia.
She must have noticed just how awkward the woman was, because she suddenly seemed distracted. Maybe now she wouldn't think Ry was crazy or weird, because he was sure that she had been thinking that this whole time. Between him waiting for her to order and the waitress' stares - even if she wasn't staring at him right now- it felt awkward.
"Brb."
He got up and walked over to the jukebox to find some music. Not that he wanted to leave her alone with that woman, but he just had to get up and move around. Ry reached into his pocket and got out some money and put it in the jukebox, before selecting a few songs. He checked to make sure the waitress was gone before he went back over.
"Is she the one you were hiding from?
Ry nodded and sat back down on the stool. He knew exactly how she felt. But it wasn't just as if she wanted to eat them - he couldn't get past her cheerful smile that she literally always had on her face. Nobody could be that happy all the time. Nobody. ...Right?
"Yes. I hope you don't think I'm crazy anymore. Most people try to ignore it, I think, but I know I'm not crazy. I've seen other people's reactions to her before. I don't think anybody can figure her out."
His face turned to a surprised look when she held out her hand to him. Why was she shaking his hand now? To make up for not doing it earlier? Maybe she felt bad for judging him? He would seem like an idiot not to shake her hand now, but he still had a feeling like she probably didn't want to actually shake his hand. Ry bit his lip and smiled slightly. His hand reached towards hers and he shook it gently. But it was only a short handshake, before he was pulling his hand back. Just in case.
"So...um. If your name is Virginia, does that mean you lived there? I mean, I don't want to assume you did."
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Post by Virginia Bradburn on May 29, 2010 22:30:50 GMT -4
"Yes. I hope you don't think I'm crazy anymore. Most people try to ignore it, I think, but I know I'm not crazy. I've seen other people's reactions to her before. I don't think anybody can figure her out."
Virginia looked at him, her hand suspended in the air, "I don't think you're crazy. I don't think I ever thought that." Of course discounting the fact that he had been muttering to himself earlier, but lots of people did that.
Virginia braced and turned away as their hands touched. It was quick, perhaps only two seconds of contact, but it still made the girl want to yank her hand away. It was over before she could though, she looked at him again, shivering slightly. She didn't want to but she was unable to stop herself from wiping the hand of her jeans. "I'm sorry, I'm really, really, very sorry." apologies poured from her mouth rapid-fire as she tried to explain her ill-manneredness, "I just have a weird thing with touching people. It freaks me out. I know I'm really weird, i'm so sorry."
She was glad when he asked his next question, she sat up tring to hide the fact that she was still rubbing her hand on her jeans to get rid of the sensation of his hand on hers. She took a breath and held it for a bit, trying to come up with an answer, "Well, yes.. I mean, no. No! I live in Pennsylvania, it's right above Virginia. We sometimes drove there, but not a lot. No my parents named me 'Virginia' because... eh, I don't actually remember." She caught herself and looked down, "Oh sorry, I'm talking too much."
She was relived when her food was brought. A nice arrangement in a plastic red basket; a filet of white fish on a bed of green lettuce with a back of Lay's potato chips tucked to one side. "Oh." She savored the scent, "What kind of fish is this?"
"Wahoo, fresh caught. Anything else, dearie?" The disturbing waitress asked with a strained smile.
Virginia suppressed a shudder, "Um, no thanks."
The waitress turned quickly and was gone. The girl stopped rubbing her hand up and down the side of her jeans. "Whew."
She snatched up the bag of chips and popped it open, feeling oddly happy as she did so. She pushed the rest of her meal at the boy with her elbow, "You can have some of that if your still hungry, but I want some to so not the whole thing."
She reached inside the bag and drew out the first chip, poping it into her mouth with a satisfying crunch.
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Post by Ryland Yates on May 30, 2010 19:23:02 GMT -4
Ryland looked at her when she said she said she didn't think he was crazy. He was pretty sure none of her facial expressions towards him had said anything but how crazy and weird she thought he was. But he didn't say anything. He was getting kind of frustrated at the moment. Probably because he just couldn't figure her out. Was she like this around everyone? It took quite a bit to get him frustrated, so luckily he could mask the emotion well. He laughed when he apologized, but only a little.
"You're apologizing because you think you're weird? I don't think you're weird."
No, he didn't think that at all. As a matter of fact, he didn't know what to think about her at all. A neutral opinion, so to speak. He listened while she explained that she actually had lived in Pennsylvania and not Virginia. And then apologized for talking too much, but he only shook his head.
"I'd actually prefer not to be the only one who talked." He paused. "I lived in California before I came here. It was nice."
"Wahoo, fresh caught. Anything else, dearie?"
Dearie? The thought made him think of some creapy old lunch lady for some reason. Ryland picked up his glass and drank some of the water. Cold water was the best. Probably not the best drink, but it was much better than warm water. As much as he didn't like the waitress, somehow he wasn't so wary of the food she brought him. For some reason he just didn't think it was likely she would slip something into his food or drink. He was surprised when she offered some of her food to him. But he wasn't hungry anymore.
"No thanks. Definitely not hungry anymore. Besides, I uh...have a bad obsession with fish. So you wouldn't want me to eat any of it. Probably wouldn't have any left."
He didn't think he should point out just how bad of an obsession it was.Noella knew and she used it against him. Nobody else needed to do that - he would be under everybody's control then. While she ate, he sat there wondering what his parents were doing back home. Well, rather they were at home, or out doing something. His family had been pretty big on going out and doing stuff. Sometimes something like bowling and other times it was a more calm activity, such as going to the theater.
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